They are not making a comeback, it is marketing. Just like vinyl. It will be a comeback when you can walk into Best Buy and see a row of tape players and turntables. Until then it is is just a marketing angle. Oh, and don’t sign with a label that exclusively releases music on tape. Think about the future, not the past.
Four years ago, cassette tapes were headed toward their funeral. In 2007, British tabloid The Sun declared the death of the cassette, after the announcement that a major electronics retailer in the United Kingdom would cease selling cassette tapes. In 2009, the webzine Pop Matters bid cassettes good riddance: “Some mediums are just meant to die and never experience a revival. Cassettes seem destined to fall into this category.”
Then, last year, cassettes began to rise from the dead. In the fall, NPR reported that cassettes were having a “kind of” revival, with at least 25 labels in the United States putting out new music exclusively on tape. In a lengthy essay in Pitchfork, contributor Marc Hogan detailed examples of the “broader underground resurgence” of cassettes.
Compared to vinyl, I think cassettes will never have a revival as a method of playback. The quality sucks and the limitations are numerous. But as a piece of art, and as a collectible artifact, they have some value. They are imbued with warmth & nostalgia for a generation that is now in its late 20s and 30s (and who loves irony & kitsch). Plus, the long rectangular fold-out sleeve has great potential for interesting, creative and surprising artwork. I think cassettes will work as collectibles, but only for certain types of band (and cetain types of audiences).
On occasion we will use cassette or microcassette, but not for music. We’ll use them to record quotes or interviews. They’re left over and it just doesn’t make sense to toss them out. If I had a tape deck in the ol’ Celica it might be another subject…
I have a 2001 VW Jetta… and it came with a cassette player!!! still copy CD’s to cassette.
I work for National Audio Company. We duplicate and/or sell blank cassettes daily for audio projects. Business continues to grow selling cassettes!
Even with that being the case, cassette tapes will never return to being a audio format anyone will desire. Specialty needs, sure, but general consumer need… nope.